Hot rolling equipment of this type is disclosed, for example, in Patent Literatures 1 and 2. Specifically, Patent Literature 1 has an object to obtain a high-yield hot rolling system or the like capable of conveying a rolled strip stably even using a cooling bank for performing intensive cooling at high water pressure and high flow rate. Patent Literature 1 states that pinch rolls are disposed immediately in the vicinity of a delivery side of a cooling apparatus, and a tension detecting device detects tension of a rolled strip based on a value of current fed to a drive motor of the pinch rolls.
In addition, Patent Literature 2 has an object to increase a cooling efficiency in a runout table as much as possible and to minimize the time required for rolling. Patent Literature 2 states that, in a case where a damming (draining) roll in a cooling apparatus installed on a delivery side of a finishing mill line is brought into close contact with a steel strip, the damming roll is pressed against the steel strip with predetermined pressing force and drive torque is applied to the damming roll, so that the damming roll serves also as pinch rolls. This is thought to cause tension to act on the steel strip as early as possible to create a stable rolling state early.